Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry Eversole, weeks away from being retried on federal corruption charges, on Monday announced his resignation from office, effective Oct. 1.

Eversole submitted a resignation letter to County Judge Ed Emmett's office at 2 p.m. About 4 p.m., the U.S. Attorney's Office filed court documents that suggest Eversole's resignation was part of negotiations with prosecutors that could see him and his co-defendant plead guilty to lesser charges, legal experts said.

"I ran for this job to try to solve problems, and then I looked in the mirror one day and I was the problem," Eversole said. "I wanted to allow Harris County government to get me out of their system and get a person in there to start running Precinct 4 in their way."

Eversole, 68, represents about 1 million constituents in north Harris County, in the post he has held since 1991. He won his sixth term last fall, running unopposed.

"It is an awfully empty feeling right now," Eversole said, "but I plan to move forward, and Pat and I hope to get to spend more time with our grandchildren. There's a lot of life still ahead of us."

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Emmett will appoint Eversole's successor, who will stand for election to retain the seat in November 2012. Emmett said he plans to have chosen an appointee by Oct. 1, adding he will consult with the local Republican Party and other members of Commissioners Court.

Emmett said about 30 people have contacted his office about the job.

More Information

JERRY EVERSOLEtold the county judge his resignation is effective Oct. 1.

Mistrial earlier in year

The Department of Justice has alleged Eversole took nearly $100,000 in cash and gifts from friend Michael Surface in exchange for steering lucrative county contracts to companies in which Surface had an interest. Eversole has denied any wrongdoing, and his attorneys have characterized the government's case as criminalizing a friendship.

A mistrial was declared in the case earlier this year following a hung jury. A retrial is scheduled to begin next month.

Eversole and Chip Lewis, Surface's attorney, declined to say whether his resignation was related to the case. Eversole's attorney, Rusty Hardin, did not return calls for comment.

Documents filed with the court Monday suggest Eversole - who is facing four charges - may plead guilty to one count of making a false statement to FBI agents, said former federal prosecutor Philip Hilder. That charge carries up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Another document suggests Surface, who faces two charges, may plead guilty to one count of filing a false income tax return, which carries up to three years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Problems with records

"In most cases (these documents) are the first step toward entering a plea agreement," Hilder said. "It's not an uncommon procedure whatsoever that criminal indictments are replaced with a negotiated criminal information, which holds less exposure of possible prison time."

As recently as late July, Eversole denied he would consider a plea agreement, despite having all but exhausted his campaign funds paying for his defense.

The federal charges are not the first legal troubles of Eversole's career. In 1993, he was indicted on misdemeanor charges of perjury and unlawful record-keeping related to his campaign finances. The charges were quashed at the appellate level. In 2009, the Texas Ethics Commission hit Eversole with a record $75,000 fine for campaign finance violations.

"Hundreds of people who live in Precinct 4 have come up to me commenting how great a guy and how good a commissioner he is," Radack said. "I'll miss working with him."

Commissioner El Franco Lee said he was sorry to see Eversole go, calling him "a first-class guy." Commissioner Jack Morman wished Eversole and his family the best, adding, "He's been straight with me since I was sworn in last January."

County Democratic Party Chairman Gerry Birnberg said Eversole should have resigned long ago, and called on Emmett to appoint a Latino to the seat.

County Republican Party Chairman Jared Woodfill said Eversole "carried the Republican banner in terms of keeping the size of government limited and doing only that which his constituents were asking for."

Eversole said he plans to visit his with staff, adding he would work with his successor to ease the transition.